The world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai city on the mainland was inaugurated by President of China Xi Jinping recently.

The 55-km long Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau sea bridge, which has been described as a mega infrastructure project, includes a 7-km long underwater tunnel. (AP Photo)

The world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai city on the mainland was inaugurated by President of China Xi Jinping recently. Situated in the Lingdingyang waters of the Pearl River estuary, the big infrastructure project is a part of Beijing’s efforts to create a new economic base in southern China. The 55-km long Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau sea bridge, which has been described as a mega infrastructure project, includes a 7-km long underwater tunnel. It was inaugurated within weeks of the opening of a high-speed rail link, linking Beijing to Hong Kong. Here are 7 cool facts about the world’s longest sea bridge that you would like to know:

1) The state media reported that the bridge has been made with enough steel to build as many as 60 Eiffel Towers and is capable to withstand magnitude 8 earthquakes and super typhoons.

2) The sea bridge, which demonstrates China’s engineering capabilities has been built at a whopping cost of $20 billion.

3) The bridge has been characterized as part of the development of the Greater Bay Area, which is a Beijing-driven project in order to create an economic hub linking nine southern mainland cities to Macau and Hong Kong.

4) The sea bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China will reduce the travel time between the three territories from 3 hours to just 30 minutes.

5) Now that the sea bridge has been introduced, it would bring Hong Kong and mainland China closer in terms of economic and trade activities.

6) It is being said that the bridge would facilitate the development of “one country, two systems”, a framework that allows Macau and Hong Kong a certain degree of autonomy.

7) To complete the big infrastructure project, it took a duration of nine years as it got delayed due to budget overruns and corruption prosecutions.